Fort Hood medical detachment will safeguard Haiti victims

Photo By Sgt. Christopher Gaylord | Soldiers from the 43rd Medical Detachment, 1st Medical Brigade unload a tent in preparation for their deployment to Haiti. The unit will be departing Fort Hood for Operation Unified Response to provide veterinary services within the next 72 hours.  

01.21.2010

Story by Spc. Christopher Gaylord 

13th Public Affairs Detachment

When Pvt. Vanessa Antoine left behind her distant birthplace in 1997, she never could have imagined the Army would bring her back 13 years later.

Nineteen-year-old Antoine has fond recollections of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the city in which she spent the majority of her childhood. She remembers pristine white sands and waters so clear they perfectly revealed the rocks lining the ocean floor. She can still taste the robust spiciness of patties made from sausage, peppers and vinegar-marinated cabbage — a mealtime favorite. She recalls walking to school and passing by the city's Presidential Palace, a once-elegant structure now left in ruins by a magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Jan. 13.

In less than a week, Antoine will return home, but this time not to visit family; she's there to protect lives. She's just one of nearly 50 Soldiers who make up the 43rd Medical Detachment (Veterinary Services), an asset of the 1st Medical Brigade and the first wave of troops Fort Hood is deploying in support of the recent Haiti devastation. The unit will inspect food and water entering the country for the sustenance of American military forces, victims and responders, and will provide care for search-and-rescue dogs deployed to the aftermath of the tragedy.

Staff Sgt. Earl Arnold, the detachment's first sergeant, embraced the mission — an opportunity for which he hoped — with open arms.

"The first thing I thought when I saw it on the news was 'I hope we get to go there and help the Haitian people,'" Arnold said.

When Lt. Col. Cheryl Sofaly, the commander of the detachment, received a call Monday morning that would have her Soldiers standing tall in a matter of hours, she wasn't surprised. She explained that the unit has been on call for months as the only full-service veterinary military unit to support stateside terrorist-related incidents or natural disasters within less than a day.

The detachment will serve as the only Army unit in Haiti specifically designed for its purpose, primarily testing for biological contaminants and rodent infestation in food rations and humanitarian aid meals coming from other countries. Its troops are also fully prepared to treat indigenous animals and military working dogs and to investigate diseases with the potential of transference from animals to humans.

While the unit's assignment can be one many Soldiers tend to overlook — especially coming from a post of trigger pullers, tank drivers and cavalry grunts — Sofaly contends that it's an absolutely critical factor in the preparedness of forces in any environment and circumstance.

"Our role is critical in making sure that servicemembers have safe food," Sofaly said. "It's critical in reducing the likelihood of non-battle, disease-related injuries and ensuring forces can do their missions."

Antoine, a shiny young private who joined the Army just late last year to put herself through college, is receiving the experience of a lifetime, not only to go where few Soldiers ever will, but to assist a country in shambles and overcome with disaster.

"I feel as if I owe it to Haiti to give back," said Antoine, who fluently speaks Creole, Haiti's native language. "No matter what country you're from, we're a team of one."

Antoine's feelings are a sentiment widely echoed throughout the entire detachment.

"We all watched on the news, and everyone saw the devastation," Sofaly said. "Our hearts really went out to them, and for us to go there and help the forces helping the people of Haiti, that's important to us."

The Soldiers of the 43rd Med. Det. are more than ready for their mission. They work on a weekly basis with Fort Hood's stray animal center and with dining facilities and fellow units to ensure the food Soldiers eat is healthy.

While Antoine can't expect to be eating fried plantains or gazing upon a breathtaking sunset and the ocean from mountain tops with the loved ones she had to leave behind years ago, she can at least rest assured she's helping to some degree to bring an entire country off its knees — the homeland in which her heart will always be. More than that, this is her calling.

"It's part of my purpose in life to help out," she said.

• Date Taken: 01.21.2010
• Date Posted: 01.21.2010 21:11
• Story ID: 44248